


Everybody Wants to Rule the World

by caitastrophe8499



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Episode AU: s02e16 Doomworld, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28786839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caitastrophe8499/pseuds/caitastrophe8499
Summary: A one-shot songfic of Doomworld.Inspired by Lorde's Everybody Wants to Rule the World.Leonard considers Doomworld and what's actually real.
Relationships: Sara Lance/Leonard Snart
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	Everybody Wants to Rule the World

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my files for MONTHS, almost done. So I knocked it out today while listening to the song on repeat. Recommend doing the same.
> 
> Some Doomworld details are vague on purpose. They aren't important.

**Welcome to your life**

Leonard’s alarm went off, but he was already awake. Still awake. It was still dark out, but that meant it was safe. Safer. He slipped his arm out from beneath the blonde woman on the bed, doing his best not to wake her. He knew he’d fail, but the attempt was still made.

He was pulling on his jeans when the figure in the bed shifted. She rolled over onto her side, hair still in tangles from where his fingers had pulled it free of the braid it had been in yesterday. Her blue eyes watched him dress in silence, but her lips didn’t make a sound.

**There's no turning back**

“Am I going to see you tonight?” Sara asked when he was fully dressed, her voice carefully empty of emotion.

They could only do emotion when neither one of them was speaking.

“I don’t know.” It was his answer every time. He kept waiting for her to stop asking. To cut him out for his lack of commitment. But she didn’t stop asking. And he kept coming back. He didn’t think he could stop. Didn’t think he could survive without her, not anymore. Not here.

**Even while we sleep**

“I think Thawne’s getting suspicious,” he said, pulling on his jacket.

“What does he care?” Sara said mutinously, sitting up in bed.

He cared because it was something for him and Damien to use. Teaming up with them hadn’t been Leonard’s best idea, but it had led him to Damien’s right-hand assassin, and he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

“We have to be careful,” Leonard reminded her.

“Fine,” Sara said. “I’ll see you at work.”

He stifled the desire to kiss her. They didn’t kiss outside of the bed. This had all started because of adrenaline and too much vodka, and just sort of...kept happening, with flimsier and flimsier excuses. He didn’t want it to end.

“See you.”

**We will find you**

Leonard pushed the door open to his apartment but paused in the doorway. Slowly, as if he was checking his phone, he looked down towards his pocket, right by the lock, where the strand of hair he’d left there wasn’t there any longer. Someone had been in his place.

Listening carefully, he stepped inside as if he didn’t notice anything, taking off his jacket and heading to the bathroom. There was no telltale buzz or hum, no blur of red. He showered quickly, getting dressed and heading over to the Mayor’s office. He walked in, Mick already there in the corner, Thawne’s arms crossed as he stood behind Damien, Merlyn on one of the chairs, and Sara, in her tight black leathers, leaning against the wall.

**Acting on your best behavior**

He didn’t look at her, and she didn’t look at him unless they were speaking to one another. Sara kept her eyes on Damien, nodding as he gave her another target to take down. Some techie vigilante - Smoak or something.

He wasn’t looking at her, not really, but he saw her drop her eyes after Damien turned his attention to Merlyn. Leonard knew she’d been having nightmares; the few hours of the night they spent together actually sleeping wasn’t restful for either of them. And he knew they were getting worse.

**Turn your back on mother nature**

“Mr. Snart,” Damien called, as the others left.

Sara didn’t look at him as she walked past, but he could feel her focus as surely as if she had. The door shut behind them before Damien started to speak.

“You happy, Mr. Snart?” Damien asked.

Leonard arched a brow. “All the riches of the city and no chance of being arrested? I’m just peachy."

Except that was a lie. He hadn’t known it at the beginning, but it wasn’t true anymore. He liked the challenge of almost being caught every time. Here, no one challenged him. The cops let him walk off because they were afraid of Damien, not because Leonard was an excellent thief. It rankled something in his soul that he had thought long dead and unimportant.

A sense of pride in himself. Accomplishment. Dignity.

**Everybody wants to rule the world**

“Excellent,” Damien said with a smile. “ I do want all my loyal friends to be happy in their lives. If there’s ever anything I can do to make it better…”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few changes to make. Ruling the city is a full-time job, you know.”

Leonard turned his back and headed to the door, but as it shut, he glanced over his shoulder. Damien had opened up a cabinet, where a long, thin lance rested. It almost seemed to glow, and Leonard quickly left, something feeling sick in his chest.

**It's my own design**

Leonard walked down the streets of his former home. Cops recognized him and continued on their way. People actively avoided him, crossing the street to stay away. A healthy dose of respect was what he wanted, but this all-consuming fear, not even of him, but of Damien, was something Leonard didn’t want.

Or, at least, he didn’t think he’d wanted it. The details were a little fuzzy.

Nothing about this felt real. Not the respect people gave him, Damien’s attempt at making them feel needed or useful, Mick’s friendship, Thawne’s constant surveillance.

Nothing felt real, save for one thing.

As the day shifted into night, Leonard climbed up a fire escape and took a circuitous route to Sara’s apartment.

**It's my own remorse**

When he climbed in through the window, Sara was already there. She was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, a white t-shirt on as she stared at her reflection.

“Assassin?” he called quietly, shutting the window and pulling the shades behind him.

She slowly looked towards him and he was startled to see tear-tracks on her face.

“I killed her,” Sara said quietly. “I knew her. And I killed her.”

He took a step closer, unsure.

Sara scrubbed her eyes. “I hate him. I hate this city. I hate everything here, except…” She lowered her hands and looked at him. “Except you.”

**Help me to decide**

He stood halfway between the bed and the bathroom, frozen in indecision.

Sara closed the distance and grabbed the edges of the jacket he had yet to take off. She pulled him down, kissing him in a very different way than she’d ever kissed him before. The other times, it had been passionate, yes, but driven mostly by lust and adrenaline.

This was soft. Gentle. He was responding before he could think about it, falling into this role easier than any other part he’d had to play in his life. When she broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers, letting his eyes close.

“You’re the only thing that feels real here.”

Sara wrapped her arms tighter around him. “This is real, Len.”

That was the first time she’d called him ‘Len.’ Before, it had been ‘Snart’ or ‘thief.’

“They aren’t going to like this,” he murmured.

“Then I’ll kill them all,” Sara promised. “I won’t let them take this away.”

He believed her. If anyone could take Damien, it was Sara. He leaned down and kissed her again, this time with intent, his fingers reaching beneath her shirt as her hands peeled off his jacket.

**Help me make the most**

For all the times they’d slept together before, this felt like the first time. Every movement, every gesture, every kiss felt ten times more significant. Leonard had to clench his jaw tight to keep from saying things he wasn’t sure either of them was ready to hear.

When they were sated, Sara curled in closer than normal, tangling her fingers with his.

“Is this the life you wanted?” she asked.

Leonard looked down at her. “No. But you make up for that.”

**Of freedom and of pleasure**

“Don’t you want more?”

He kept his voice quiet out of habit. “Just because you want something, it doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Or get to keep it.”

She pressed her lips just above his heart, then met his eyes. “What if you could be extremely selfish? What if you could keep it?”

Leonard looked down at her blue eyes, clear and open in a way that no one else was in this city. There was something deeply broken in the world, and if he was something better than what he was, maybe his answer would be different. Instead, he said, “You’re all I want.”

Sara gave him a little smile, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking. “And you?”

“You’re all I want, Len.”

It was real.

**Nothing ever lasts forever**

The next morning, Sara wasn’t at the regular briefing. He glanced around but kept his mouth shut until Mick spoke up.

“Where Blondie?”

Damien gave a faint frown, which made Leonard’s pulse skyrocket. “She had to handle a mission, but it is taking longer than usual.”

The doors banged open at that moment, Sara coming in, blood-stained and her eyes wild.

“Ah, speak of the devil,” Damien said with a smile.

“You manipulative bastard,” Sara hissed, crossing the room to face him. “You took our memories. You made it all this way!”

Leonard inhaled, glancing at Damien. If he’d made it all, then he and Sara -

**Everybody wants to rule the world**

Damien just continued to smile. “I didn’t make it all. You and Mr. Snart, for example. That was unexpected. And undesired.” He turned away and headed towards the cabinet. “No matter. It’s an easy fix.”

He opened it up, revealing a glowing spear. Sara gasped and Mick got to his feet, but as Damien reached out -

Leonard shot, his ice freezing Damien’s hand to the handle and making him scream.

“Don’t like the idea of you making any more changes,” Leonard said with a shrug as Damien glared at him.

“Kill them!” Damien shouted.

Merlyn looked disinclined to do so, but Thawne was all too eager. Unfortunately, with his eye son Leonard, Thawne didn’t notice Mick behind him, drawing his own gun. 

When Thawne started screaming, Mick grinned. “Never liked him.”

Sara vaulted over the desk and under Damien’s arm to grab the spear and then darted towards the side door. “Come on!”

Leonard followed her, ducking as a red light exploded right where he’d been and skidding behind Sara to shut the door behind them.

**There's a room where the light won't find you**

“Hurry,” Sara said, taking the stairs down three at a time. “The vault downstairs should keep him out long enough.”

“Long enough for what?” Leonard asked, keeping pace.

“Long enough to fix this,” Sara said.

Fix them?

“Len,” Sara said, glancing at him as she continued to run further down. “This was real and it’ll be real afterward. Promise.”

“Holding you to that,” Leonard muttered.

“Good.”

**Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down**

As they reached the bottom, the ground shook, cracks forming in the walls. Sara grabbed his hand as he stumbled, tugging him towards the vault. There was a voice, Damien, getting closer and closer.

“How dare you think you can stop this,” he shouted, his voice almost driving Leonard to his knees. Sara pulled him on, the vault in sight.

But Damien was in sight now, too. They weren’t going to make it. Leonard let go of Sara’s hand, looking back to fire his gun, but Damien waved the burst of ice aside with a lazy hand. The vault might be enough for a moment, but how long? How much time would she need?

How much time could he buy her?

**When they do I'll be right behind you**

Sara ran into the vault, immediately turning to look at him, even as she grabbed the Spear with both hands. Leonard met her eyes as he slammed the door shut, with him on the outside.

Sara’s face slipped into shock and she took a step towards him, but Leonard shook his head and turned back to face Damien, firing again and again, doing nothing but buying Sara mere seconds.

But those seconds might be enough.

Damien howled in anger, and Leonard dodged the first few spells and shards of broken concrete sent his way, but he was old and tired and sick of all of this and -

His breath punched out of him as some red mist sank into his skin.

“Open the door,” Damien ordered.

Part of Leonard wanted to, desperately. He even turned towards it, his hand lifting, but he saw Sara. Her eyes were closed now, both hands on the Spear, the glow infusing her and the Spear.

If anything was real, it was him and her. He'd take that chance.

“No.”

**So glad we've almost made it**

Leonard grinned as Damien screamed again, feeling the tang of copper in his mouth as the spell sank deeper into his chest with every second he resisted.

Still, he stood between Damien and Sara, her hands clenched on the Spear and her eyes closed.

“Do as I command!” Damien screamed, clenching his fist.

Leonard laughed brokenly. “No strings on me.”

Sara’s eyes opened, the blue he’d stared into this morning almost white, but meeting his nonetheless.

"Sara," he said, for the first time. The last time. And she couldn't even hear him.

“Len,” she mouthed, her voice almost lost in the screams from Damien, and the sudden whine coming from the Spear. She said something else, words that he’d kept himself from saying just this morning, but Leonard already knew it. Just like she knew it, too.

There was nothing left to say.

**So sad we had to fade it**

The light from the Spear grew brighter, and brighter, blindingly so. Damien shouted something Leonard missed, but the spell was suddenly gone, and Leonard dropped to his knees, his breathing wet, and painful.

He leaned forward, his hand supporting him upright enough so that he could watch Sara, her hair blowing away from her face, eyes completely white now, but still trained on him.

**Everybody wants to rule the -**

_“Don’t you want more?”_

_“Just because you want something, it doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Or get to keep it.”_

_“What if you could be extremely selfish? What if you could keep it?”_

_“You’re all I want. And you?”_

_“You’re all I want, Len.”_

**Everybody wants to rule the -**

The light from the Spear continued to grow, and against his will, Leonard had to shut his eyes. When he tried to open them again, he couldn’t. He was tired now.

He hoped there had been one real thing about Doomworld.

Just the one.

**Everybody wants to rule -**

He couldn't open his eyes. All he could see was the light from the Spear. But in it, behind his eyes, he imagined he could see her, the way she'd been this morning. The smile on her face. He focused on that, the only thing that mattered, smiling through the pain.

Then everything was consumed by light.

**The world.**


End file.
